Proteins
What proteins should we produce?
Step one in protein development is deciding which protein to develop first. Choice of bioreactor, feedstocks and downstream processing are all dependent on the organisms we use and the proteins they produce. This page is very much a work in progress and your input would be hugely welcome.
A note on “closed source” enterprises
We mention a number of commercial “closed source” companies in these sections. We fully support their efforts to bring the benefits of alternative proteins. Commercial competition has brought many excellent innovations to market. Many companies seek to do good, even before seeking profit, however there is a risk that good companies and/or their IP gets acquired by less benevolent enterprises. Shareholder primacy means that some of the world’s poorest, in the most challenging environments may not benefit as much as they could from the innovations that they need most. Open source projects like this serve to benefit all corporations (as they can access our data) while also ensuring our innovations have the potential to benefit all.
Biotech Proteins
Biotechnology is providing amazing advances in many areas of food production including:
- Single-cell protein
- Precision fermentation
- Cultivated meat
These are currently ranked in order that Martin envisages attempting them, but if you are working on open science projects around any of these, please do get in touch.
Meat & Plant Protein
Plants are definitely a more sustainable source of protein than highly inefficient traditional meat. Only a fraction of the protein that livestock eats makes its way into the meat that we eat.
Plant-based protein production still requires significantly more land, and in many cases more water, carbon emissions, fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, etc. than any of the biotech proteins listed above. Given the inefficiencies of current agribusiness cultivation, this results in significant discharge of nutrients and other environmentally detrimental chemicals into water courses.
There are many improvements that can be made to crop cultivation. For example The Land Institute are doing wonderful work on perennial crops. Many small (and not-so-small) scale farmers and horticulturalists are doing wonderful things around both increasing yields and decreasing environmental impact.
Climate change poses an existential threat, it is essential that we reduce GHG emissions from food production and all other activities. Even if we manage this we still need to adapt to climate change. There are already populated places on earth where natural crop cultivation is impossible. Microbial protein production could be sustainable in all such regions. Our challenge is to ensure that it is economically viable and available to all who need it.
Plant Based Meat
Tofu and Tempeh are examples of ancient meat alternatives. Beanburgers and veggie burgers took the next step in vegetarian fast food. More recently companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have taken great strides in meat alternatives.
We are inclined to leave plant based meat to well-funded enterprises, as they generally offer no nutritional benefits over the plants they are made from, and naturally requires plants, which have their own downsides.
1 - Single-Cell Protein
Which single-cell proteins should we produce?
Single-cell proteins (SCP), sometimes called microbial proteins, are edible unicelular microorganisms containing high amounts of protein. These can be farmed using biomass fermentation:
Biomass fermentation
Biomass fermentation is where the whole microbe (or a dried version) is the product of fermentation.
Given the relative ease of downstream processing when the whole microbe is used, and their gastronomic potential, biomass fermentation may be the preferred route for open source fermentation.
Most types of living microbe could potentially be used for biomass fermentation. We’ll break these down into fungi (yeasts and moulds), bacteria and algae:
Fungi
Fusarium venenatum
Quorn mycoprotein is a well known proprietary product of biomass fermentation. It uses Fusarium venenatum, a filamentous fungi. Quorn’s original patents expired in 2010 but their £30M fermentation towers may prove challenging for open source development.
Sustainable Bioproducts, Inc and 3F Bio Ltd have also submitted Fusarium venenatum GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) notices to the US-FDA.
Harrison Lab have published bioinformatic analysis of Fusarium venenatum genomes on GitHub.
Bacteria
Xanthobacter spp.
While we, and many others previously reported that Solar Foods use Cupriavidus necator to produce their proprietary Solein largely from air, their EU Novel Food application indicates that they are using a Xanthobacter species.
Solar Foods take carbon dioxide and water vapour from air. They use solar powered hydrolysis to split the water, providing hydrogen which the bacterium can use as its energy source. Ammonia is used as the nitrogen source.
Cupriavidus necator
Novo-Nutrients and Kiverdi are thought to use Cupriavidus necator. The full genomes of the H16 strain and JMP134 strain have been sequenced.
Algae
Through photosynthesis, algae use sunlight to produce sugar and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. Nitrogen can be metabolised from urea, meaning all major feedstocks are freely available.
As such (and since a number of algae, containing all essential amino acids, are already sold as ‘superfoods’ for human consumption) algal protein may be the quickest win. That said, it may not be as gastronomically appealing as other proteins on our shortlist.
Arthrospira platensis
Spirulina is commonly used as a food supplement, but Spirulina Gnocchi has been proposed by the European Space Agency for Mars Missions. It has a slightly sweet nutty taste. Spirulina is technically a cyanobateria rather than algae, which means the risk of cyanotoxins (e.g. microcystin, alkaloids and BMAA) need to be mitigated.
Chlorella
Chlorella arguably tastes worse than Spirulina. They also have a lower protein concentration and cellulose walls. In their favour: they are single celled, so may be easier to process, and should not produce cyanotoxins.
2 - Precision Fermentation
What is Precision Fermentation and could we implement it?
Precision fermentation is where microbes are used to produce particular chemicals. Insulin and rennet are common cited products of precision fermentation.
Precision fermentation can be used to produce pretty much any chemical. Ingredients that are currently being produced using precision fermentation include:
Casein
Real Vegan Cheese are a non-profit research project using precision fermentation to produce casein - the main protein in milk, cheese, yoghurt and similar dairy products.
The separation processes required to extract the end products of precision fermentation will likely make it a more complex process than biomass fermentation. As such we anticipate that the proteins will be more expensive to make and somewhat harder to democratise.
Precision fermentation also generally involves genetic engineering. We anticipate that corporations who invest in the development of custom strains for precision fermentation may be less inclined to open source them, so we very much welcome the Open Science work of Real Vegan Cheese.
Rennet
Rennet was traditionally obtained from the stomach linings of calves and lambs. A very high proportion of rennet used in cheese making is now produced via commercial precision fermentation.
3 - Cultivated Meat
How is cultivated meat made?
The Good Food Institute and New Harvest have useful primers on cultivated meat and cellular argiculture. This may play an important role in mimicking and replacing traditional meat. However, the complexity and cost of doing so, without any significant nutritional benefits over single-cell proteins, mean that it may be best left to well-funded enterprises..?